Marthas Vineyard Chowder Company — Restaurant in Oak Bluffs

Was told everything in the kitchen was cross contaminated. Couldn’t eat there due to seafood allergy. Wife got ice cold queso dip it was disgusting. Regular coke came with a lime never heard of that. Seemed our server was more interested in talking to her coworkers than doing her job. Food dies in the window cause servers are busy talking and hanging out. Watched a man with no hairnet no beard net and no gloves go stir pots of food and then pulled himself a bowl and ate in the kitchen in plain site of customers. Poor management leads to poor service and poor food. I can promise you we will never eat at this place again. Nor would we recommend such a place to anyone else. You want lower than sub par food this is place to eat. We felt that addressing it to the manager had little to no affect so that told us what we needed to know about this place. Plenty of better places to eat on the island. Don’t waste your time. I wish I could give them negative stars. After all the hassle of getting bad food and having an overall bad experience we were charged for the drinks and not comped. Instead of owning up to the mistakes that were made the owner attacked my wife and I for making absolute correct reviews of this place. Watching someone walk around in kitchen with long hair and no hair net was absolutely disgusting and vile. Food service 101 tells you to make sure you wear a hairnet beard net and gloves. The owner is a joke and the way he has trained his managers is a joke. But the owner wants to be combative over honest reviews. Own up to your mistakes like a man. Save your money this place is atrocious. And yes we were specifically told that everything in that kitchen was cross contaminated due to all the seafood. So once again if you have allergies don’t let a measly hovel like the chowder co kill you. It’s not worth it. Spent almost an hour there for cold food and bad drinks.. there isn’t anything in this review that I wouldn’t say directly to the owners face! Your establishment is a joke and a sham. And not for nothing we both made separate reviews of your establishment cause we felt people needed to know. Maybe start taking your patrons reviews a little more seriously and not so dismissively. Cause being combative is everything everyone needs to know...

Firstly, Im sorry I didn’t take pics…would have been nice to put a pic to a meal face. Secondly, the cooks here are on-point! Literally everything was great! The head cook Brandon is amazing…but of course the other cooks get credit for prepping etc. I guess it’s a team effort …so way to go team Brandon. Our server Luke was great and led us to the pastures of how to order a Great meal. Excellent job Luke. The manager ‘Red’ even came out to greet us. The Wait staff and seating crew -John- were attentive and friendly and got us seated quickly. Drinks are decent as well order a Cadillac margarita …wasn’t disappointed…wasn’t wowed but it had a good amount of the main ingredients that I like which made it better (tequila) the bartender was not stingy with the liquor!

We will be here for 5 days and we are already planning to come back in a couple days.

Pros The food *Crab cakes Amazing ( never had it like their way) *Mushroom fries - award winning (you can do so much with these mushrooms) I am going to add it to my salad next time *Swordfish - also amazing seem like it was broiled because of the flaky delicious crust *Clam chowder - definitely fresh an FULL of clams.

Cons- We didn’t have a fridge to take leftovers home. Very nice portions. I actually shared an entree with my date and was very full. (We also ordered drinks multiple appetizers and soups —go figure) *Certain items on the menu are pricey….but you get what you pay for. This isn’t a fast food joint. *I prefer my clam chowder very creamy —heavy cream based. Theirs is more soupy but the flavor is still nice.

Great job for a great...

TLDR; Best clam chowder I've had, but everything else was pretty average. Won't be back because of a downright hostile encounter.

We were visiting Martha's Vineyard for a few hours and happened to drop by here for lunch. We had our dog with us, so we were happy to find out that we could eat outside with our dog. It was really nice seat outside, where we could see the hustle and bustle of the port/downtown area.

The clam chowder was the best clam chowder I've had. Plenty of clam and vegetables in there. Not too salty and nice and creamy. The lobster bisque was meh. It wasn't bad, but it was nothing amazing.

The lobster roll was definitely different. It looked like it was blended with a bunch of stuff, but with just the claws intact. It was almost like stuffing. Wish they had gone with just a simple lobster with intact meat.

The mix up burger was good. It was different, but I really enjoyed it. The fries were really good, both cajun and regular.

The service was really great. Not intrusive, but attentive. And the server that took picture for us took amazing photos.

But the reason for the rating and why we won't be back is because one of the guys behind the bar started to give me hard time when I walked in to go to bathroom. I guess he thought I wasn't eating there and was just trying to use the bathroom? But he was downright hostile, and I was really taken aback. Despite the decent food (minus chowder, which was AWESOME), I will not be back because I don't want to have to go through that again because we will most likely eat...